Our Mosaic: Stronger as We| Highlights from the 28th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference sponsored by Harvard Business School, Women’s Student Association – A day dedicated to individuality, intuition, and inclusive leadership.
Conference Snapshot
A Mosaic – a unified picture that is made up of individually created works of art – was a perfect metaphor for Saturday’s 28th Annual Dynamic Women in Business Conference held at Harvard Business School with an 
audience of over 1000 attendees. The female HBS student body organizes this conference to tee up their top career interests; inviting panelists who are executives and/or thought leaders on important topics in today’s workplace. Looking across the speaker-panelist-moderator universe was just one example of the WSA’s commitment to inclusiveness – drawing from Asian and African-Americans to foreign born leaders of US companies. Many speakers are distinguished HBS alumni, but not all. Despite the majority “student” audience, my experience over the last 10+ years is that this event is inspirational for women at all stages of their life or career.
Real-Time Journeys
The morning keynote remarks were given by Beverly Anderson, EVP of Cards & Retail, Wells Fargo, followed by a C-level panel on advocating for diversity and inclusion – Betty Thompson, Chief People Officer, Booz-Allen Hamilton; Corie Pauling, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer, TIAA; Paul Francisco, Chief Diversity Officer, State Street Corporation; Jeffry Simonoff, Inclusion & Diversity Consultant/Employment Lawyer; and Moderator Rania Anderson Founder of The Way WoMen Work.
What has always made this event special is the comfort level of the speakers in sharing their journeys. Beverly Anderson kicked off her talk with informal remarks about her personal life – describing challenges that immediately ingratiated her to the audience – everything from being “bi-coastal” to “hot” – leaving the audience to enjoy her humanity and sense of humor. She also set the stage for our current social climate – the notion that “history is happening” before our eyes and that if any group is prepared to deal with the “geopolitical, economic, and social dislocations” facing us today, women have the skillset and sensibilities to do so. She reiterated statistics from the McKinsey study on the advancement of women in the workplace, emphasizing on what needs to be done in the hiring/training pipeline. At the same time, reinforced that to qualify for top jobs, it’s often about what you produce or do to stand out in your performance. She also set the stage for the panel by emphasizing that we have to hold each other accountable for inclusion goals and not discount men or others who share our goals. These important lessons and the importance of different types of mentors and advocates were themes repeated throughout the day.
#Beverly Anderson, @WellsFargo the opening keynote set the stage for our current social climate - the notion that “history is happening” before our eyes and that if any group is prepared to deal with the “geopolitical, economic, and social… Share on X
The panels was thoughtful and emphasized more innovative ways to drive inclusiveness in an organization –
however “tone at the top” was a critical success factor. Among the more interesting topics were “attracting vs retaining diverse talent,” “how to diffuse unwelcome behavior” “how to introduce and award inclusiveness in unexpected places,” not just D&I events. A Holiday party was used as an example of an opportunity to call out exemplary role models with awards. Corie Pauling also discussed looking at business impacts and market opportunities derived from looking at things differently. Look at products in new ways – using the example of the color “nude” – which means something different to each of us.
There was also a surprising stat that in 2018, there were more EEOC disability-based complaints than any other group, an overlooked stat pointed out by Pauling. Catching bad habits in the act, such as he-peating or crediting attribution, not interrupting – among the common violations in a meeting setting. Catch and address them real time. Finally Paul Francisco emphasized the importance of establishing and monitoring metrics.
Panel Session I| Transforming Society – Women in Emerging Technology
Panelists included: Minnie Ingersoll, COO Code for American; Andrea Coravos, CEO/Co-Founder, Elektra Labs; Dara Treseder – CMO Carbon; Nina Sodhi, Founder & CEO, Bookshelf Builder; and Julia B. Austin, Senior Lecturer, Entrepreneurial Management, HBS. This panel was simply outstanding and kudos to Julia Austin, an accomplished entrepreneur now leading classes at HBS who set up an energetic discussion and Sarika Mendu the student organizer for this panel. The key takeaway was the powerful impact we can have by applying the sciences across sectors and societal challenges. The speakers provided many examples of the convergence of material science, software, and hardware. Examples included sneakers and helmets designed with intricate lattice derived from
hundreds of thousands of data points (Carbon collaborating with Adidas); the use of video games to control ADHD (Example provided by Andrea Coravos Elektra); and bleeding edge innovation around “bioabsorbable materials” to advanced drug delivery via a device that could be implanted surgically to control medication directly to organs.
Progress means Responsibility
Even more complex, however, is how this cross-sector creative problem solving ecosystem challenges our existing institutions and rules and policies. Are we prepared for the onslaught of sensitive data? Enter Code for America, a non-profit set up to bring government into the digital age. Minnie Ingersoll, COO believes strongly that all sectors are being impacted by emerging technology and there is no longer such a thing as “technical person.” She presented “machine learning/AI” examples including technology that impacts food assistance and another involving communications between probation officers and prisoners awaiting trial. Her message – we all have to adapt and understand emerging technologies and government should be helping the under-served to take advantage of the tools available.
Over lunch, I connected with a fabulous group of women in the energy field, at a Boston based company called Enel X (a local startup recently purchased by an Italian utility), in a niche business that was new to me – providing “energy-as-a-service” among many other innovative ways to share energy between organizations that have different peaks in demand. This is just one example of the diverse business climate in Boston well-represented at the conference!
Entrepreneurship Perspectives
My afternoon panels included two that focused on different aspects of entrepreneurship. The first one “Building Businesses from the Ground Up” focused on moving “from ideation to incorporation” leaning in on the tactical challenges of growing a business. Featured Speakers included: Annie Scranton – President & Founder, Pace PR; Felice Friedson – Author, The Media Line; Jody Greenstone Miller – Co-Founder and CEO, Business Talent Group; and Trudie German – Trainer, Author, & Health & Fitness Expert. It was moderated by Jodi Gernon – Director of the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship Harvard Business School. It was closely followed by the panel called: “Woman Entrepreneurs: Why? When? How?” which explored “gender disparity in both the corporate and entrepreneurship world” and how that impacted choices they made.
In the first panel, I was most impressed by the discussion centered on funding and the implications of accepting venture funding versus more creative, hybrid approaches to finding investors. Jody Greenstone Miller of the BNT Group emphasized the importance of matching corporate strategy to capital strategy when scaling a business. Getting a huge influx of capital is wasted if you don’t have the plan in place to use it effectively. She quoted a fellow business leader who shared with her “more companies die of indigestion than of starvation.” Media Line, a news outlet operating in the volatile Mid-East provided cautionary advice around having “checks and balances” in place for your sources of funding – to guard against bias or misperceptions. Annie Scranton suggested that “side hustle” is a valid way to manage risk and then find the cross over point to go from a full time gig to being an entrepreneur. Among the biggest challenges the panel mentioned firing people, large layoffs, creating a new category, and figuring out a path in a world that moves very quickly!
The follow on panel was led by Dolores Hirschmann – Strategist and Coach and included Helen Lo – Founder 
and CEO, Lo & Sons and Addie Swartz, serial entrepreneur, Founder and CEO, reacHIRE . This group provided additional insight into the tenets of entrepreneurship – solving a real problem, having passion for what you are doing, leading with vision and clarity, and testing ideas to be sure they are actually marketable. Though Helen Lo, who is delightfully witty and grounded, (and started her business nine years ago at the age of 65) also cautions, “If you know too much, you may never get started!” My own question was “What is the ‘slow food’ equivalent of essentials in today’s fast-paced startup climate?” The panelists each shared a kernel – Customer Service, Relationships, Excellent Execution, and Leadership.
Personal Power
Back in the beautiful new Klarman Hall auditorium, the final keynote address was given by Berta de Pablos-Barbier, Chief Category Officer of Mars Wrigley Confectionery. Berta was truly a presence. Her story one of hiding her identity early in her career due to criticism by a boss that she never challenged. Damaging feedback included everything from the way she dressed and wore her hair to the way she spoke (she was born in Spain). Her remarks echoes those of Corie Pauling’s in the opening panel who experiences similar reactions to the way she dressed and listening to her reminded me of my own early career in the 90’s when a boss chastised me in a similar way without even giving me a chance to demonstrate my competencies. Pablos-Barbier’s message was powerful – encouraging each of us to take ownership of our own story, celebrating our uniqueness, but at the same time be curious about your surroundings, de-code the culture around you, and think about how you are impacting those you meet on the journey.
The final fireside chat featured Shan-Lyn Ma, CEO and Co-Founder of Zola. Sahn-Lyn watched American entrepreneurship from her native Australia and dreamed of building a business here. She shared her story of 
careful observation and hard work to land at several “startups” – Yahoo and Gilt Group to get her feet wet before jumping off on her own. Her talk circled back to the themes of the day and she frankly answered many audience questions about her own ethnic background to which she frankly replied that she used hard work and experience to distinguish herself. Shan-Lyn loves surrounding herself with smart people and giving them what they need to do their job. She is proud to say that Zola itself is a living example of the principles she embraces, an innovative online wedding business that celebrates all unions.
Jo-Anne Crawford & Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco
From my many friends who have experienced the WSA conference, a final note of thanks to the hard-working women of the WSA for their generosity of spirit in sharing their conference with the community and women of all ages – true to the spirit of the MOSAIC they sought to create. Special recognition to the leadership team – Sarah Scalia, Christina Belsito, Kathryn Tekulve, Marissa Petersile, and Meghan Kenny.